We organise some pretty spectacular Champagne tastings (if we may say so ourselves), but boy was this one to behold!

Back in November at the InterContinental Park Lane Hotel, 18 lucky Champagne aficionados sat down for the first ever complete vertical tasting of Pol Roger’s prestige cuvée, Sir Winston Churchill. Featuring every vintage ever made – from the pioneering 1975 to the latest 2004 – this was a truly unique evening. A ticket price of £1,000 for any event is tough to justify, but with each vintage being poured from magnum (except for the 1988 which was served from jeroboam – why not), the price seems somewhat reasonable.

In this remarkable review, Tim Hall captures the prestige of the event perfectly and highlights some of his favourites on the evening. Unsurprisingly, most vintages impressed but Tim gives special mention to the 1999, 1998 and 1988 vintages specifically. Read the full article published in the FT’s How To Spend It here.

Sir Winston Churchill and Odette Pol-Roger in 1952

Winston and Clementine Churchill toasting with Champagne in Geneva, 1946